Tigers to be introduced in Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal on October 2

Tigers will be introduced in the Buxa Tiger Reserve of North Bengal on October 2, West Bengal Environment and Forest Minister Manoj Oraon said on Friday (July 24, 2025). “We are planning to introduce a tigress in Buxa Tiger Reserve on October 2,” the Minister said at an event in Kolkata.

Buxa Tiger Reserve is located in Dooars area of north Bengal, near the country’s border with Bhutan. The area was identified and15 th Tiger Reserve of the country in 1983. The reserve, with an area of 760.87 sq km stretches over a length of 50 km from west to east and 35 km from north to south.

The tiger reserve has recorded as many as, 68 species of mammals, 41 species of reptiles, more than 246 species of birds, 4 species of Amphibians along with 103 species of fishes. Earlier the tiger reserve had a good population of tigers, but the numbers of tigers have dwindled over the past few years.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav in his visit to Kolkata, had said that the double-engine government was “exploring” the re-introduction of tigers in “suitable” habitats in Bengal.

Citing the successful reintroduction of tigers in Rajasthan’s Sariska, where the population has grown from zero in 2008 to 56, Mr. Yadav said a similar initiative was being planned for the “land of the Royal Bengal tiger”.

The other tiger habitat in West Bengal is Sundarban, the only mangrove ecosystem in the world that is home to Royal Bengal Tigers. There are about 100 tigers in the Sundarban and the number has remained stable over the past few years.

Senior officials of the West Bengal Forest Department said that bringing tigers to Buxa from Sundarban may not be good idea. Tigers may be introduced in Buxa from similar landscape of Assam and Bihar. The West Bengal government and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) are considering bringing in a tigress from Valmiki Tiger Reserve of Bihar.

The NTCA protocol for re-introduction of tigers refers to an attempt to establish a tiger population in an area which was once part of its historical range, but from which it has been extirpated or become extinct. While there have been several instances of successful tiger reintroduction, the tiger reintroduction to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha had posed several challenges.